Posted by Ginjoint on January 17, 2003, at 13:39:23
In reply to Moving on from mental health forums?, posted by OddipusRex on January 17, 2003, at 11:39:41
Hi Oddipus...
First, thanks for the link to the visual thesaurus! It made me smile when I was about to cry. Good timing!
But to the topic at hand...these boards make me sad when I read a post from someone who needs guidance or support, but I can't seem to think of a coherent response -- either because the poster has already exhausted all avenues I can think of, or I'm in too similar of a situation (I just thought of that old "I've fallen and I can't get up!" commercial, *snicker*), and I can't see around it either. It's very frustrating not being able to automatically type some magic or funny words to pull someone through. It's also disheartening realizing that there are such literate, kind, and humorous people out there who yet are in so much pain. So in that way, the boards don't always help me.
They do help by that old standby...making me aware that I'm not alone. That there are others who see and experience the world as I do.
The first time I was misunderstood online was surprisingly upsetting! Not having the advantage of hearing tonal inflections or seeing facial expressions can make online contact a minefield. But as I posted to different boards, and exchanged email with people I "knew" only from online, I learned to distance myself. However, I can see that that's extremely hard to do on a board that deals with very private deep-down feelings. The vulnerability level here can be pretty damn high.
BTW, I have very, very few people in my life (you mentioned isolation), and one creative outlet I have is painting. I listen to songs on the radio, or from my CD collection, and when I hear a lyric that jives with what I'm feeling, I paint a watercolor image based around that. Often the lyric is incorporated into the image. Sometimes I take the lyric out of context and work from there. Am I good? Hell no! My paintings look A LOT like a little kid's work. :) But I show them to my p-doc. It's easier for me to show an image than to verbalize what's going on. Hope this helps, and I hope you come to feel safe enough to stay, OddipusRex. The board benefits from your color and flavor.
Ginjoint
poster:Ginjoint
thread:35377
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030111/msgs/35392.html